Dive Brief:
- A group of parents, school districts, educators and advocates is suing the Wisconsin State Legislature for allegedly failing to properly fund schools and thereby falling short of state constitutional requirements to provide all children with equal opportunity for a “sound basic education.”
- The Legislature has not attempted to keep up with inflation in its education funding for the past 16 years, according to the lawsuit filed in Wisconsin county circuit court on Monday.
- Because of a school funding formula that led to minimal budget increases, many Wisconsin districts have had to cut essential programs, let go of critical staff, and expand class sizes — and consequently cannot meet student needs.
Dive Insight:
An underfunded state education budget has forced Wisconsin school districts to shoulder about half the costs of their students’ education, according to a press release from a coalition, Fund Wisconsin Public Schools, formed in support of the lawsuit. That’s a much greater share than districts used to pay: As recently as 2003, the state paid two-thirds of the cost per pupil, the press release said.
On top of ignoring rising inflation costs, the lawsuit alleged the Wisconsin Legislature has not accounted for a growing population of high-need students in the state, such as students with disabilities, students experiencing poverty, and students who are English learners.
Per-pupil funding was previously increased annually based on inflation, but that formula was replaced with a set statutory amount in 2010, which the Tuesday press release said has resulted in “minimal and unpredictable” increases since then.
Wisconsin legislative leaders did not immediately respond to a request for comment Tuesday afternoon on the lawsuit.
Wisconsin school districts have increasingly had to put referendums on ballots for community members to fund school operational expenses through local property taxes, the lawsuit said. The number of district referendums statewide jumped from 91 to 150 between 2022 and 2024, according to the lawsuit.
Tanya Kotlowski, superintendent of Necedah Area School District in Wisconsin, said in a Tuesday press briefing that her district is putting out such a referendum in April for the third time in recent years.
If the Necedah district had received an annual incremental inflationary increase from the state Legislature, Kotlowski said, it would have gotten over $2 million more and not have had to rely on a third referendum. The school system is one of five Wisconsin districts bringing the lawsuit.
This is just the latest salvo in a long line of lawsuits filed over school finance formulas. An attorney representing the Wisconsin plaintiffs cited recent rulings in Kentucky, New Hampshire and Wyoming over education funding mechanisms.
This is also not the first time Wisconsin courts have been asked to rule on the state's school funding formula. In 2000, the Wisconsin Supreme Court in Vincent v. Voight upheld the state's education finance system.
But since that ruling, Wisconsin school systems are “in much, much, much more dire straits, and that’s why we’re doing this,” according to plaintiffs' attorney Jeff Mandell, who is co-founder and general counsel at nonprofit firm Law Forward.
During Tuesday's press briefing, two plaintiffs pointed to examples of school closures — including in the Green Bay Area School District — and staff reductions because of the alleged underfunding.
In the Eau Claire Area School District, the school board recently backed off of a proposal to close an elementary school. That proposal arose partially because of the Legislature's policy of financially rewarding districts that consolidate schools, said Joshua Miller, a parent and plaintiff in the case.
“That seems backwards to me,” Miller said. “Instead of funding the schools we have, they want to incentivize reducing the number of schools that serve our children, our families and our communities.”
While the district’s board did not approve the closure and found a workaround, Miller said he thinks the board is pushing off an inevitable decision to close as other school districts across the state have already had to close some schools.
